Guerrero's two home runs propel Angels to victory

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Vladimir Guerrero cracked a pair of
two-run home runs to propel the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
to a 10-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

Angels starter Joe Saunders (8-3) pitched five innings, allowing
four runs and 10 hits. The lefthander struck out three and
walked one, earning his first win since August 19 against the
Boston Red Sox.

The win cut the Angels (85-59) magic number to 11 to clinch the
American League West Division. They are nine games in front of
the Seattle Mariners (75-67).

Guerrero, who was the Angels' designated hitter after missing
the past four games with an inflamed right triceps, launched his
23rd home run of the season to center in the third inning,
capping off a five-run third inning.

He drilled his second home run of the night into the Los Angeles
bullpen off Fernando Cabrera, his 24th of the season, to give
the Angels an 8-4 lead in the seventh. It was the 33rd
multi-home run game of Guerrero's career.

"He swung the bat great tonight," Scioscia said. "Losing
(Guerrero) out of the lineup for that length of time - you have
to be deep enough to absorb it."

Howie Kendrick began the third-inning rally with a leadoff
double to right off Orioles starter Victor Santos. Kendrick
advanced to third on Jeff Mathis' single and scored on Reggie
Willits' base hit. Chone Figgins hit a ground-rule double to
left to score Mathis and Willits scored on Orlando Cabrera's
sacrifice fly. Guerrero followed with his first blast of the
game.

"I've seen Vlad hit a lot of long home runs," Willits said.
"They all go a long ways when he hits them."

Santos (0-1), whom the Orioles purchased from the Cincinnati
Reds on Friday, was finished after five runs and 2 2/3 innings.
The 30-year-old righthander surrendered seven hits while
striking out one.

This was the sixth consecutive game where an Orioles starter
lasted five or fewer innings.

After Figgins' RBI double gave the Angels a 6-1 lead in the
fourth, Kevin Millar hit his 16th home run of the season - a
two-run blast - in the bottom of the inning to pull the Orioles
back within three.

The Orioles got runners on second and third with one out in the
fifth, but got only one run when Nick Markakis drove in Tike
Redmond on a fielder's choice.

Baltimore opened the scoring in the second inning when Millar
led off with a double and moved to third on Aubrey Huff's
single. Ramon Hernandez bounced into a double play, scoring
Millar to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

The loss secured a 10th straight losing season for Baltimore.
They've now lost five of their last six games and 17 of their
last 20.

"We're going out there and doing the best we can," Millar said.
"Sometimes, we're just outmanned." Angels outfielder Gary
Matthews Jr. left the game in the third inning with a sprained
right ankle. He'll be re-evaluated in several days.

"I thought I broke it," Matthews said. "I thought I wouldn't be
able to play in the playoffs."

ALAT BALTIMORE - SCORING UPDATETWO-RUN HOME RUN BY KEVIN MILLAR (16) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE 4TH OFF JOE SAUNDERS SCORED MIGUEL TEJADA.CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 6, BALTIMORE 3DUE UP FOR BALTIMORE: A HUFF (.273, 1-FOR-1)